A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart

Picture Book Biography

by David A. Adler, Jeff Fisher (Illustrator)

When Amelia Earhart was eleven, she saw her first airplane. At the time she thought it was "not at all interesting." Despite this beginning, Amelia would go on to become one of the most famous aviators of her day. Never conventional, she grew up playing football and later studied automobile-engine repair. But she was planning a career in medical research, when on Christmas Day, 1920, she took her first plane ride -- a ride that changed her life. She bought her first plane the following year, and by 1928 became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Amelia Earhart went on to have many more flying adventures, but perhaps her best known flight is the one from which she never returned. When she disappeared mysteriously, Amelia Earhart was considered a hero.

Genres: Biography, Picture Books, Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Womens, Aviation

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[McKayla Aswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was good. This book explains the life of Amelia Earhart on a level that younger students can understand. This book introduces the events in history that we’re going on and the technological growth in the U.S., and even the fashion in the early 1900’s. As a future teacher, I would assign this to 5th or 6th grade English class let them create a story book on Amelia Earhart. I would also assign this in a 5th or 6th grade Social Studies class to see the history of this one woman that made a huge difference in the world.

[Emma Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it's a children's book, I learned a lot about Amelia Earhart. It describes her life in an interesting and engaging way. Also love the pictures!

Lexile: 680
GR: O
Trait: Ideas

[Meryem Boukhriss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amelia Earheart's story is very inspiring to readers because of her achievements as a female pilot. In this book, it describes the life and achievements of Amelia Earhart. It describes her journey in becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. One major theme in this book is courage because she accomplished something as a woman that someone had never done before which takes lots of courage. Another theme is perseverance as Amelia Earhart overcame obstacles to achieve her goals. The main genre of this book is Biography. Children reading this book could learn the challenges she faced and how she perserved despite setbacks. They could also learn that Earhart serves as an important role model is history, showing them the potential of pursuing their dreams. This book was a WOW book for me because her story was very inspirational and shows others the importance of chasing your dreams.

Some of the literary devices the author used in writing this book were metaphors and similes to add depthand vividness to the storytelling for children. I would consider this book to be anti bias because it highlights the importance of gender equality and challenges traditional gender roles, encouraging children to embrace the idea that anyone can achieve their dreams and make a significant impact.

[Anjanabiswa]

Summary: A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart is written by David A. Adler and illustrated by Jeff Fisher. This book is about the life of Amelia Earhart. Amelia was a tomboy and independent as she grew up. She went to college, but quit being a nurse during World War I. she went back to school to study automobile engine repair and medical research. Amelia moved back home and started flying lessons. She had many crash landings because the planes were not safe. While learning to fly, she worked as a social worker for immigrant children. Amelia flew over the Atlantic for the first time in 1928 and became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
Evaluation of Illustrations and Text: The illustrations fill the pages with faint detail and color. The text is in short and long paragraphs per page.
 
Strategies for Use in the Classroom: 
Activities- The students can write down the most important facts or what they want to remember about the life of Amelia Earhart.
 

[Phul Rasaily]

A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart is written by David A. Adler and illustrated by Jeff Fisher. This book is talk about who Amelia was and what did she did. She was on the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928. She was nurse, she learn about automobile engine repair and then later become a pilot. In 1932, she flay to many places and came back home but when she went on a journey to fly across the work, she didn't able to came back. She got disappeared in the pacific ocean. This book is also can be use for diverse learning because she was first women to fly and She taught a immigrant children English. The book has some beautiful watercolor pictures to look at it. For a classroom use, I would ask student what are the adventuress they would want to go on even if they are dangerous? and why?

[Kristen Quinlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes you through life of Amelia Earhart and her family, beginning with her unique strength even as a child that set her apart from her peers, such as her choice of loose fitting bloomers instead of garbs and dresses of the day. It goes on to tell how she discovered airplanes, experienced World War I and the devastation of the war wounded, and her original plan to go to college for medicine, and ending in medical research. A visit to an airshow and $10 later, she was hooked and set out to make it her mission to herself fly high in the sky. There is some history about aviation included in the story as well. Her famous telegraph that stated, "No matter what happens, it will have been worth the trying" is inspirational. Her first flight on the Friendship still did not quench her thirst to pilot a plane herself. She led the way for women in aviation.

[Abby Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have definitely heard about Amelia Earhart and what she accomplished, but I actually learned a lot more about her than expected. Especially for being a children's book, I was very surprised about how much interesting information they had about her. Not only is it an interesting story with cool pictures, but I also feel like it would be a great book to inspire young women and show them they can do anything they out their mind to.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

We got this at the library after visiting the Museum of Flight. M was really taken with a statue of Amelia Earhart there and I thought it would be fun to learn more about her. This is a decent book. The pictures are pretty and it gives a good overview. I feel like there are some superfluous biographical details included, especially for a kid’s book. M has enjoyed reading it.

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty detailed book for children/ESL learners to know about Amelia Earhart in a nutshell.

Amelia Earhart is quite a feminist. How she wants to prove to be capable and independent seems to already lay out an ominous ending of her life.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book but too long for a read aloud, especially with primary grade levels.

[Drmkk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading picture book biographies for the most concise and important 'picture' of someone's life. David A. Adler is one of the best.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

AR 5.0

[Keegan Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Biography
Grade: 1-3
A great story going into detail about Amelia Earhart's upbringing and journey to becoming a pilot and everything in between! A very cool story to show to your students.

[Mackenzie Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart
Author: David A. Adler
Illustrator: Jeff Fisher
Genre: Biography (grades 3-5)
Theme(s): Biography, Air Pilots, Women, Juvenile Literature
Opening Line/ Sentence: Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kanasa on July 24, 1897.

Brief Book Summary:
This book is about the life of Amelia Earhart from when she was a little girl up to when she disappeared. This book talks about the different interests that Amelia Earhart had as she was growing up and her interests she wanted to study in college and further in a career and then her interest in becoming a pilot when she was in her young adulthood.

Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
With the recent release of Amelia Earhart, David Adler's "Picture Book Biography" series is now twenty-seven books long. Adler has a gift for making history accessible to young children. It is in the way he presents historic figures and the simplicity with which he tells of their lives. In this book, he writes about the facts of Earhart's life, stressing the qualities that will mean something to children. Those qualities include her fierce independence, love of flight, diverse gifts, intelligence, and her outlook on life; that when women fail, "their failures must be but a challenge to others." A good title for March, women's history month, as well as any time during the year when one wants to celebrate women's contributions to the world. 1998, Holiday House, $15.95. Ages 6 to 9.

Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
B. Gressett (Parent Council Volume 6)
Anyone's life can be enriched by learning about ordinary people who triumph. Amelia had several jobs over the years--nurse's aid, engine repairer, medical researcher, and social worker. She became a pioneer in early airplane flights and accomplished many "firsts." This warmly illustrated book should especially appeal to girls searching for their place in the world. 1998, Holiday House, $15.95. Ages 5 to 10.

Response to Two Professional Reviews:
Both of these professional reviews talked about Amelia Earhart’s life and their own opinions based on this book. I really liked how both reviews caught the theme that this book can be used and engaging for young girls to know that they can accomplish and do whatever they would like to if they are dedicated. I also like how the first professional review talked about women and failures because this is something that young children should understand because they all are going to fail at some point but that doesn’t mean they need to stop. I thought both reviewers succeed in talking about Amelia Earhart’s life and her viewpoints towards flying and achievements. I was surprised that neither reviewer mentioned anything about the illustrations in this book, which I thought were well done and very detailed for the reader to see.

Evaluation of Literary Elements:
I though that David Adler included a lot of information about Amelia Earhart throughout her life, her interests, her thoughts, and her accomplishments. The author was able to present the reader with all this information in a very detailed and very clearly understandable text. The wording in this book was easy for young readers to relate with and clearly comprehend. Some nonfiction books can be a struggle to get through but this book does not have a nonfiction feel to it as it can be read very easily. The information presented in this book is presented in a manner that the reader does not want to put this text down till they know all about the person this biography is about. The end book matter offers the children some different facts about Amelia Earhart if they are interested in learning more about her.

Consideration to Instructional Application:
I would include this book and read this book as a read aloud to the students during women’s history month. I think this would be a good time to show the students that there are many women that are known to have done many different accomplishments in history. I would include other books addressing different women and their achievements to read aloud to the students so they have various opportunities to hear about important women from history. I think it is important for the children to hear biographies about important men and women in history and their different successes and achievements.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Picture Book of Amelia Earhart I was written by David Adler. This book discusses the life of the pilot, who was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by herself in a plane. The genre of this book is obviously a biography. I thought this was a really good book and entertaining for young readers. I always loved learning about Amelia Earhart when I was growing up so reading this book was very interesting to me and I thought it was a very useful book.
The illustrations in The Picture Book of Amelia Earhart were amazing I thought. I thought the illustrator did a really nice job. I could have thought they were real life sketches. I think the age group that would be most appropriate for this book is early elementary school. The pictures will help the children understand the meaning of the book. There is no particular theme in this book since it is about Amelia Earhart’s life. There was no texture in the illustrations of the book but I didn’t think they needed texture. I would use this book when working with children when I am teaching about planes. This was a great book and the illustrations made it so much better.

[Katelan Mccullum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved David Adler's, "A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart." I have always been fascinated by this legendary woman and all of her accomplishments that landed her as an infamous female historian. This picture book depicts the biography of her life from the early stages as a young girl, all the way up until she goes against all odds and becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean by herself. I think this is the ideal book for young children because it is not only educational and gives biographical information about Amelia Earhart, but students are also exposed to the vivid and dream-like illustrations. Children will get facts about Amelia and important dates, but the illustrations are so attention grabbing that it will make it seem as though they aren't learning at all! The illustrations in the book are so vivid that children will feel as though they are a part of the story. I have always seen Amelia Earhart as a strong, independent, and brave female figure and this book only strengthened my opinion of her. I would definitely use this book in my future classroom as a free book of choice or for a read-aloud when talking about great discoveries in history.

[Hend Alalwani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal reaction,
I really enjoyed reading this book because it talked about the whole life of Amelia Earhart. This book has good information to learn about her life and what she did like “she was the first women who fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and she married George Putnam”

Purpose/use in the classroom,
Read aloud to children from age six to eleven to learn about Amelia’s life and what she did and achieved in her life.

Children whose age twelve and up can read it alone. The can learn about women right and what women can do like Amelia’s flew across the Atlantic Ocean.
Children can learn about people life and what challenges they had and how they tried to solve them or deal with.

Also, children can use this book to use as a resource if they have a paper. They also can learn about history in the periods that Amelia lived on. Also, children can learn that women have the ability to do things that men can do.

This book has amazing information about Amelia entire life, and the illustration is gorgeous. The pictures described the facial expression of Amelia and the other characters.

[Brittany Martz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a complete biography on Amelia Earhart which takes the reader step by step through her life. The book starts at the birth of Amelia and continues through her life touching on the key events that occurred in her life. The book ends with Amelia's last flight and all the unknowns about what happened to her. The illustrator, Jeff Fisher, does not include real pictures of Amelia, her family, and the events that happen throughout her life, but instead creates his own pictures. To do an activity with this book in the classroom I could do a Bio-cube. The students could write on large sticky notes on each side of the box. On each side of the box, students will write a different prompt which the teacher will supply for them. A suggestion of what they could write is, 1.Person's name, time period, and place. 2. Personal background (interesting facts) 3. Personality traits 4.Significance
5.Biggest Obstacle 6.Important Quotation. This will be a fun and interactive activity to get the kids to remember the person being written about.

[Anna Korroch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book told the story of Amelia Earhart's life in a very good way. It was short and to the point, but it gave all of the important details and facts. The illustrations also helped bring the story to life. I think that this book would capture the attention of any elementary school student.
This could be read aloud when talking about aviation in the classroom. It could also be used to discuss important women in history or to celebrate famous people from Kansas. This book could start a lot of classroom discussion about any of these categories.
This would be a good independent read for a student that is interested in airplanes, or wants to be a pilot. They would especially enjoy learning about Amelia Earhart's adventures and they would admire her bravery.
This is a biography that is told in the form of a story, but it still has many non-fiction conventions. It uses pictures to help the reader understand what is going on. It has a list of important dates at the end of the story.

[Collin Powell]

This book is a non-fiction miniature biography of the early, famous, woman pilot. It covers her early life and her tomboy tendencies through her college studies in medicine and automobile engine repair. It describes her introduction to flying when she saw her first airplane at age 11, just 5 years after the Wright brothers’ famous flight. She started hanging around air fields and air shows and absorbed as much as she could. With her first flight lesson, she was hooked. The book covers her life as a pilot and concludes with her unsuccessful attempt to be the first woman to fly around the world.
This book is written at a slightly more advanced level – perhaps 4th or 5th grade. The pictures coordinated with the last sentence on the page so the student needs to read the whole thing to understand the art.
This would be a good book for empowerment of girls, to understand world geography, and to understand the progress of aviation science.

[Stephanie Gamache · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adler, D. A., & Fisher, J. (1998). A picture book of Amelia Earhart. New York, NY: Holiday House.
Target Audience: Ages 4 and up

In June 1928 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, along with Bill Stultz and Slim Gordon. But she would be remembered as the first woman to try to pilot a plane around the world and fail. July 2, 1937 Amelia, and her navigator, Fred Noonan, would leave Lae, New Guinea to never be seen or heard from again. While Amelia is most known for this fateful trip there is so much more to who she was an American, as a woman. David A. Adler's picture book biography is the perfect introduction to who Amelia Earhart was: an American, a pilot, a WWI nurse, a woman's rights advocate, and much more. The brightly detailed water color and colored pencil illustrations by Jeff Fisher add the perfect companion to David's narrative. This is a wonderful little book about an amazing woman and role model.

[Rachel Devine]

1) No Awards
2) Grades: 1-4
3) This book is about the famous pilot Amelia Earhart. It depicts her life and journey braking barriers and setting new records as a woman and a pilot.
4) I like this book because it has a lot of details from her life. I also like that it gives some detail on the time period she grew up in because it was so different from present day. The only thing I do not like is that the writing was to narrative, I wish there was more of a literary feel to the writing.
5) This book can be used to introduce women’s rights and some of the old stereotypes of women and how they have been broken and changed over the past 120 years. It can also be used to talk about plains and air travel for a transportation unit. This book talks about how just flying across the Atlantic was a big deal which can be then be discussed with students how it isn’t thought of as a big deal any more.

[Angelique Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adler's "A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart" is a biography written for young audiences. The story follows the daring tale of young pilot, Amelia Earhart- the first woman to pilot across the Pacific Ocean. As the book progresses, the struggles Amelia faces shape her courage and dedication. Amelia only gets stronger as time progresses; unafraid and unwavering of gender stereotypes. On a flight around the world, Amelia is lost at sea- never to be found.

The illustrations of Adler's biography depict the unique, quirky character of Amelia Earhart. The story is told in the third person, allowing the audience to follow a large story and quickly "travel" through time. "A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart" is an inspiring biography that will empower many young women to persevere through stereotypes and doubt.

[Andrew Swanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know Amelia studied medical research? Taught English to immigrant children and worked as a social worker? That she paid for her flying lessons with her own money made at a telephone company, and that she hadn't even found planes very interesting until she was in her 20s? As a young girl, I was definitely a fan of Amelia Earheart, the American heroine, the Lady of the Skies. In this illustrated rendition of her life, we follow her from birth to disappearance, and I learned many things about Amelia I had never known. This biography would make a wonderful part of any young girl's book collection, so she might be inspired to find her own spunk and become a pioneering woman of her own right!

[Laura Brenneisen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart By: David A. Adler Copyright: 1998 Number of Pages: 30 Lit Require: Nonfiction #1: biographical (picture book)

This book not only talked about Amelia Earhart in a sense of what she has done for women, but also how she got to where she wanted to be. She had family struggles as well as flying wasn't really her first love. This book also added in quotes that Amelia had said while being interviewed or from historical artifacts.

I really liked this book because it helps give women a role model/inspiration to do what men do. I would use this book in grades 4-6 because it is a biography, but the students would also be mature enough to understand the information in the book as well as understanding that women and men are equals.

[Ashlynn Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Amelia Earhart and how she was not afraid to do whatever she set her mind to. Her first time ever in a plane she knew that she was destined to fly. She was the first woman to ever fly across the Atlantic Ocean and the first person to ever fly alone across the Atlantic and Pacific. She decided she was going to fly around the world, but she never made it and was never found.

This was such a good read to learn about a woman who did not let anyone stop her from following her dreams to fly where she wanted to. I really enjoyed this book.

This would be a great book to read to a class to show girls to not let anyone tell them they can't do something It would also be good to teach boys to not tell a girl she can't do something just because she is a girl.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Picture Book by Amelia Earhart by David A. Adler is a beautifully written biography about the life and accomplishments of Amelia Earhart. Her story is an inspiration to women all over the world as well as anyone who was told that they can't do something that they wanted. Her story paints a portrait of a girl who always embraced challenging the social norms. She dressed differently, she acted differently, and she dreamed differently. She initially had no interest in flying planes, or even the concept of planes at all. Eventually, after her first plane ride, she told herself that she was going to fly on her own. She had completed several tasks which has led to her being named THE FIRST LADY OF THE AIR.

[Nashay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amelia acted like a school girl engaging in activities normally done by men. She was well educated and dressed more like a boy than a girl. She was a very compassionate person focusing most of her time on flying. The story talks about all of her flights until her mysterious death and disappearance while attempting to fly around the world. Since this is an autobiography, I would use this book as a resource for students to do a book report on Amelia Earhart. This book has a reading level of 5.1 but an interest level for third graders. Because of the wonderful illustrations, this would be a great read-a-loud book to introduce a heroines or women who have made a significant impact to history.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book telling us the summary life story of Amelia Earhart. As she grew up, she did things differently than they had been done in the past. She dreamed big and did her best to conquer those dreams. She was the first women and the second person to ever fly over the Atlantic Ocean. On a flight around the world, she disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.

I didn't know that much about Amelia Earhart and it was fun to learn more about her.

I would use this book in my classroom when we are learning about women in history who made a difference.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Adler always does a nice job of presenting whatever or whomever he is covering an interesting and memorable way for young readers. This book on Amelia Earhart, the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean via plane, is no exception. Chronologically telling a little bit about her life, tomboy ways and out spoken views, this is great book for any elementary classroom or library for research or just for fun.